News Archives: Fitness Challenge Kept GPRC On The Move

Released: Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Only days into the Year 2013, the employees of GPRC were challenged by the College’s senior executive: "Do you think your department can keep up to or exceed the physical activity of the Exec Team for the coming eight weeks?" The responses ranged from "we can try" to "without question" - and the walking, running, skiing, swimming, yoga and gym time began.

Departments formed teams, teams chose leader/recorders, individual participants committed to a minimum of 150 minutes per week, and the reports were submitted weekly for compilation and comparison. Each week a team was selected for recognition - everything from most improved to most minutes by a single member. Now, eight weeks later, 294 participants have completed a combined total of 634,846 minutes of physical activity. That is 10,581 hours, or 441 days - in fact 1.2 years of solid exercise!

"There is nothing like a little competition to make people motivated to do more," says Don Gnatiuk, GPRC President and CEO. The competition was suggested by Be Fit For Life coordinator Jody Minton and physical education instructor, Leigh Goldie, during one of their presentations to the Executive Team in December. "We thought it would be a fun way to keep ourselves conscious of how much (or little) physical activity was a part of our daily lives in the winter," says Gnatiuk. In fact, the Executive team did prove a strong competitor during the Executive Fitness Challenge - they completed a total of 23,953 minutes, 399 hours, or more than two weeks of 24/7 activity. And of course at the end of eight weeks, everyone who participated is definitely a winner!